Exide to Invest Rs 3,000 Crore in Phase 2 of Bengaluru Lithium-Ion Plant

Storage battery major Exide Industries is set to invest close to Rs 3,000 crore in the second phase of its lithium-ion cell manufacturing plant in Bengaluru, taking the facility’s total capacity to 12 GWh. MD and CEO Avik Roy shared the plan after the company’s annual general meeting on Friday.

The plant’s first phase, with a capacity of 6 GWh, has already drawn more than Rs 6,000 crore in total investment, with another Rs 1,400 crore being added this fiscal. Roy said the Bengaluru facility is expected to start generating revenue from the third quarter of the current fiscal year.

‘Initially, we will replace imported lithium iron phosphate cells for our Gujarat battery pack plant catering to the three-wheeler segment,’ Roy said. ‘By the end of the fiscal, we also expect supplies for certain two-wheeler battery pack applications and NMC cells for OEMs, subject to homologation and approval.’

Exide expects to use around 3 GWh of the first phase’s capacity this year, with qualification for passenger vehicle battery cells already underway. Roy called the lithium-ion venture a strategic transformation for the company, while noting that Exide will keep investing in its conventional lead-acid battery business too, with over Rs 400 crore earmarked for that segment this fiscal.

The company is targeting revenue of Rs 20,000 crore by FY28, up from its current topline of Rs 17,200 crore. India’s lithium-ion cell demand is almost entirely met through imports despite the country’s fast-growing electric mobility market, with domestic demand at around 20 GWh currently and projected to rise to 130 GWh by 2030, nearly 100 GWh of which is expected to be driven by electric vehicles.